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And sadly, enemies, she thought.
Daniel nodded and straightened in his seat. “I’m afraid another city has topped Houston’s tax break offer by quite a bit.”
Her grandfather’s narrowed gaze lingered an uncomfortable moment on Daniel. “Can we make it up?”
Daniel shrugged. “I’m not at liberty to say, sir.”
That had her grandfather’s brows buckling and lips pressing tight. She had no idea if there would be a solution or explosion forthcoming.
“Perhaps,” Mitch leaned forward, “we could have an emergency meeting of the committee. See what else we can add to the pot quickly. Up the ante.”
Tension eased from their grandfather’s face. “No time for that.” His gaze shifted to Daniel. “Am I correct?”
“Probably.”
“That’s what I thought.” He paused a moment. “What if, rather than rent free, we assign ownership of our stadium to the Comets as long as they remain at least, say, ten years in Houston?”
Daniel sighed. “A stadium that by today’s standards and fan demand is no longer considered a state of the art stadium, even with the updates you’ve done.”
“Which means,” Mitch leaned back again, “our competition has or will have a nice shiny new stadium and it won’t cost the Comets much if any money.”
The way Daniel’s gaze darted from Mitch to the Governor, Paige knew he was fighting for a way to respond and remain neutral. “No comment.”
“I see.” The Governor looked out the window. He and everyone else in the room knew that reply was as good as ayes. “We need to come up with more. Fast.”
Without adding a word, Daniel nodded.
The Governor began tossing out potential areas of interest from concessions to parking. None brought out the positive reaction from Daniel they were hoping to find.
“I’m afraid, sir,” Daniel cupped his hands and leaned forward, “you’re going to have to come up with something outside of the box.”
All the excitement and delight that had been dancing inside her at the thought of a future with Daniel deflated like a ruptured balloon. Daniel’s business was hockey. Even if he left the Comets franchise, his work would take him to another state with another team. Which did nothing to assuage the doubts now battling inside her. If Houston didn’t win the bid for the team, if the team moved to another state, if Daniel moved to another state, if being together meant Paige moving as well—could she give up all she’d worked for? Did she love Daniel enough to give up her winery?
Daniel would have given anything for that meeting to go differently, to wipe the worry from Paige’s brows and instead have reason to celebrate. Quietly, he’d followed her onto the front porch.
“I can’t bear the thought of being confined in four walls right now.” Paige spun around to face him. “Let’s go for a ride.”
“My car or yours?” They began their descent down the front steps.
“Neither. Nothing is better to lift a heavy mood than to feel the wind in your hair and far away from the big city than being on a horse. Wait.” Paige stopped in her tracks.
Daniel stood stock still, unsure if she’d had a change of heart or perhaps he was about to step on a snake or something.
Her gaze shifted to meet his. “I’ve already almost starved you at a steak restaurant and then risked dehydration by putting you on a moving boat to upchuck the contents of your stomach. You’re not allergic to horses or something, are you?”
He smiled. “No allergies.”
“Good.” She proceeded down the last two steps before stopping and jetting her hand out to snag his, and interlaced their fingers. “We’ll take it slow till you get the hang of it.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” No point in telling her they had horses in Canada too.
The barn was a short walk from where they’d had the meeting. The outside of the structure was deceiving. He hadn’t expected so much space inside. Rows of stalls, of all sizes and purposes, flanked either side. Made sense that the Barons could have a fleet of horses if they so desired.
Paige led him to a horse so black, the hair reflected the light above its head. “Meet Cabernet.”
“Named after a favorite wine?” Daniel didn’t bother to hide his amusement.
A sweet smile crossed her lips. The first since the less than pleasant meeting. “Even before the Governor bought the winery, I’d been fascinated with how the French made wine.”
